Meet the Capital One Savor card: a 3% cashback dining rewards credit card with no annual fee considering coffee shops and nightclubs as dining charges. Cardholders also score a $150 bonus if they spend $500 within 3 months of signing up, along with 2% cash back at the supermarket, 1% cashback on everything else, and they charge no interest for the first 15 months.
If you spend a lot more money dining and drinking out than you do at the grocery store, and if you won’t need to use your rewards for airlines.
It’s for people who want to redeem your travel rewards or spend more money at supermarkets than you do eating and drinking out, or if you’d prefer earning rewards at the gas pump.
Pros:
Cons:
Savor considers many transactions counted within the “dining” category: from 5-star restaurants to pub drinks. These all get 3% cashback. This card also doesn’t impose minimum redemption requirements or restrict your rewards after spending a specific amount.
Cashback rewards are limitless, and they can be redeemed for any amount at any time in the form of a statement credit, check, gift card, or charitable donation. There are also convenient automatic redemption options, like annually (or when you hit a specific threshold, like $50, for example).
One downside is that supermarket purchases only get you 2% cashback, and everything else is just 1% – other cards out there do much better in those categories, from 4%-6% (but won’t typically come with 0% introductory APR or 3% cashback on as many dining options as the Savor card).
A second downside is that you can’t redeem their rewards for merchandise or airline travel.
Compared to many airline miles rewards cards, it’s straightforward to get your (somewhat small) $150 bonus – all you need to do is spend at least $500 in three months. That’s easy, as it’s only $166.67 per month, and it also gets automatically credited to your statement once you reach that minimum.
With travel rewards cards that ask their cardholders to rack up $1,000 to $3,000 in charges before getting your miles bonus, the Savor card has a very easy-to-achieve threshold by comparison.
Low intro APR applies to all purchases and balance transfers, but the variable APR after the first 15 months. 16.24% to 24.99% is on the higher end of the spectrum.
Contactless “tap” payments are enabled, no transaction fee and rewards don’t expire.
This card also comes with car rental insurance, roadside assistance, ID theft services, emergency card services, complimentary concierge service, price protection, and an extended warranty.
But wait a minute! Even if you eat out or order food frequently, there may be better options that fit your lifestyle a little bit better (and stretch your rewards further). Check out the other options below and see which one would be the most suitable for you, personally.
You also might consider:
This card, which requires an annual Costco membership (about $60 per year), also allows users to get 3% cashback on dining – but coffee shops and bakeries aren’t included. The $60 per year membership cost can basically be considered an annual fee, but at least you get the privilege of shopping in bulk at Costco locations. This card has no introductory APR but gets you 4% cash back on eligible gas for the first $7,000 per year – then 1% after that. By the way, the Savor card is a Mastercard, which isn’t accepted at Costco (something to think about).
With this credit card, you get a whopping 6% cashback from supermarkets in the United States, so if you are a big at-home food prepare, this would be the best option for you. That only lasts for the first $6,000 in purchases for the year, and then it dips down to just 1%. It also offers 3% cash back at US gas stations and certain US department stores with 1% cash back on other purchases. Cashback is given as a statement credit in increments of $25 as you hit those thresholds.
The regular purchase APR is similar (14.74%-25.74%), but the bonus offer isn’t quite as good: a $200 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in the first three months. There’s also a $95 annual fee.
This rewards card, which has no annual fee, gets you 4% cashback on dining, 3% cashback on hotel and airfare, 2% on online purchases, and 1% back on everything else. The Uber card’s cashback offer is $100 cashback (or 10,000 bonus points) after you spend $500 in 90 days (slightly worse than the Savor card’s program).
But, with the Uber card, you can nab a $50 credit if you spend at least $5,000 per year. There is, however, a $500 per day limit of spending that can get you points. Oh, and there’s no interest-free balance transfer period.